Time wasters

This piece is meant to dwell upon how each of us, deliberately or unintentionally, criminally “waste” the most important asset, that is inherently, valuable and limited, resource, which is, “time”. In the process the discovery and emphasis upon the effective “use” of time shall pervade as a corollary to the title/caption.

In Hongkong I learnt the meaning of the phrase, ‘time is money’. For that market, time is really and truly considered as ‘money’ — every person in that society values the significance of time. If it isn’t used for productive purposes, there is a general sense of remorse. Each constituent desires to put their time to effective use — this to them, means that a measure of mostly monetary reward or gain (money) must be applied to any endeavour or effort. If it doesn’t result in generation of ‘money’, they are quick as a cheetah to abandon the act and rush to find newer avenues and alternatives for ‘using’ their time.

Our society drives itself to make sure that time is not used but “spent”. If time is money for most societies, for us the common slogan is ‘let’s kill time’. Each day mother nature credits us with a new set of 24 hours. This credit has to be utilised — because before the next credit comes in, the earlier 24 hours stand to be debited to the account of life. A debit to this account is permanent and irreversible. It is irrevocable. No wonder than that there arise real proverbs alluding to the significance of time; time and tide wait for no man; race against time, running out of time…and fiddling along or twiddling thumbs, are all that point to its limited nature, and how time is either used or wasted.

I am so bored, I don’t know how to kill time, is a plea our society collectively makes. There are many ways to “waste” time — and each society has its own novel way of doing so. In our part of the world, sleeping is a hobby, not a physical need; it goes beyond the call of the body to take rest — people sleep as a right to do so, beyond the natural needed hours, to keep oneself physically fit. A few more hours than the required minimum is taken as a privilege. We start very late in the morning, nay actually, afternoon. No shops open nor the shoppers are there before noon time. We burn the daylight hours to make sure that nightfall is greeted and welcomed by energy blackouts, with the accompanying rhythmic sound of the generators that come into play. How callous is the attitude towards time, and how costly to the country. We take life as fun and frolic, hence to the many, time appears to fly faster than it actually does.

Life expectancy in most societies has increased; in our country, if there are no ailments of any of the organs, life expectancy stands at 75 years. Now, if an individual sleeps 9 hours per day, instead of 6 or 7 hours, then effectively, such an individual, would have spent almost ‘thirty’ years of his life in bed … dreaming for either a better future that must come without effort. This is truly not a dream, but a nightmare.

The other major time waster is ‘meetings’. If there is nothing better to do, most managers resort to having meetings; for indeed it is the best alternative to working. These meetings are pre scheduled, with specific agenda or these could be impromptu. Both can be productive or a complete waste; it depends upon the chairperson, keeping in mind the purpose. Most end up with little decision making; but it gives delight to have wasted several man hours overs discussing the irrelevant, accompanied by gallons of coffee and loads of cookies. The off- site meetings initiatives are very exhilarating. These achieve nothing in my personal view. It is a complete waste of time. If the office environment is not inducing for the management to determine ‘strategy’ then, how can a scenic spot overlooking snow capped mountains drive their imaginations … of course they can give impetus to finding our William Wordsworth or John Milton.

Procrastination is another major time waster. By delaying action or decision, not only is personal time wasted but many others in the organisation, who are in wait for the decision are directly affected too. Procrastination therefore is more deviously harmful towards effective utilisation of time. Delays in decision making or if there are systems and processes that are cumbersome aid the wasting of precious time.

Joining in discussions that offer ‘juicy gossip’ is a temptation towards whiling away time. Regardless of the position on the organogram, all ‘professionals’ indulge liberally in both initiating and promoting ‘gossip’. I have seen supervisors, who begin the conversation with the opening line of … this is just between you and me. While this supervisor would have talked in a similar vein to over half a dozen senior colleagues. This is done to share reaction to a possible critical decision. This wrecks the ethos of the organisation.

Then there is a whole lot of highly meticulous individuals, who just love to keep on planning their ‘dairies’. They fix meetings with devilish deadlines, knowing full well, that the targeted times set would never be met or accomplished. In the process they put into the ‘waiting room’ a horde of colleagues, who otherwise could be productively working at their stations. There was one colleague, who used different colour pens on his diary … it made for such an art. The timeline was never met. Only delays and rescheduling.

In Northeast Asia, the culture is to be highly efficient. The deadlines are set and met. No train arrives late or departs late, as an example. Meetings are focused. They show respect for each other’s time. Nobody deliberately keeps others waiting to show corporate or positional power, unlike us, who love to keep waiting, for giving oneself a completely false sense of importance. How fickle is such thinking.

Culturally, we refuse to accept that time is inelastic, that is its inherent quality. It cannot be stretched or curtailed. This feature is not recognised by us. Nobody arrives on time, be it a serious board meeting or a wedding dinner. Coming late to functions is a passionate habit of the politicians and the elite. They refuse to recognise how much damage they cause to the country. This is neither accounts nor audited, hence, this is a privilege for them, that like most other privileges has to be abused to the fullest. Bad time managers, who are assisted by the battery of side-kicks, who instill this thought are at full deployment.

In Latin , there is a word, ‘tempus fugit’, which means time flies. The usage is meant to instill and inculcate a deep sense of urgency towards effective use of the passing moment, hence it must be caught and used productively. In our context, regrettably, the interpretation is ‘catch it and waste it’.

My Father used to involuntarily while smoking his post dinner Havana cigar, would recite, a Urdu verse, which in loose translation meant, “if what is said by Hasan carries no appeal, remember that the fleeting time, will not return”. If the intent of this writer is not captured, he has wasted his time, and, more significantly, yours too!

The writer is a senior banker & freelance columnist.